It had been four months ever since Taylor and Laura started going out. Things were still going as smoothly as they could get for them. Of course, there were numerous times when they had fought. But those fights were only just about petty things that they would eventually kiss and make up.
They had gone back to work when they started doing promotions for the third season of their show and they had found a way to informally announce that they were now a couple in real life by deciding to go out one time, hand in hand, finally flaunting their affection for each other. Most of the public accepted this warmly. A lot had expressed how much they had been waiting for this to happen ever since first season. Some, unsurprisingly, pegged this relationship as a fake one, accusing both the actresses of using it as a publicity for their show.
The couple of course did not care at all what people thought. They were just happy that they did not need to hide from anybody anymore, that they were free to show people how much they loved each other. This had even helped their relationship become stronger.
-o-o-o-
After a few months of break, Taylor and Laura were back on the set of Orange Is The New Black. They weren’t too happy that they were back in that horrible abandoned psychiatric ward, though. But everyone was excited to see each other and so everyone was still happy to be back, in spite of the setting itself. There were few, though, who weren’t back for the fourth season and it was sad because they were going to miss them. But there were also additions to the show so it was still all good.
Today, they were shooting a scene at the cafeteria so Taylor, Laura, Yael, Natasha, Uzo and the rest of the cast were all there. Taylor and Laura were having their makeup done when Natasha and Yael went near them.
“Hey, you two.” It was Yael. “Going strong?”
Taylor and Laura looked at each other. “I guess,” Laura answered.
“You guess?? Really??” asked Taylor incredulously.
“Shit! Wrong answer, Prepon,” joked Natasha. They all laughed.
They were all having an animated conversation when Ruby Rose, went near Taylor. She said hi to everyone for about a second. “Hey Taylor, can I borrow you for a minute? I just have something to tell you.”
At this point, Laura’s eyebrow shot up. She saw Ruby Rose take Taylor’s hand, enclose it with her own, and drag her all the way across the room. “What just happened?” She asked Yael and Natasha. “She couldn’t say what she was supposed to tell her in front of us?”
Yael and Tash just shrugged at Laura, and looked at her, amused by her reaction.
“And she couldn’t even acknowledge that I was here, the girlfriend?? I mean, how hard was it to say, ‘Hi Laura! May I borrow your girlfriend for a while?’” she asked in an annoyed tone.
Again, Yael and Natasha didn’t speak but just laughed at Laura. They both knew that Laura had always been aloof with Ruby Rose and it seemed like that feeling was gonna be more intense now.
Laura watched Taylor and Ruby Rose across the room and got even more annoyed when she saw both of them laughing, looking like they were having so much fun. At one point she even saw their hot lesbian co-star’s hand on Taylor’s thigh. If she wasn’t being prepped up for her upcoming scene, she would’ve stormed towards the two of them and dragged Taylor away.
After her hair and makeup were done, which wasn’t long before there wasn’t so much that needed to be done anyway, she was a lot calmer so she decided to approach the two of them.
“Hey,” Ruby and Taylor looked at her but she was talking to the former more. “May I borrow my girlfriend for a while? I’m just gonna need someone to practice my lines with.” She didn’t know if they noticed, but she stressed the word ‘girlfriend’ more than it was supposed to be.
“Ahhh, sure. Go on,” answered Ruby Rose, then she looked at Taylor. “Later?” she asked, with a big grin on her face.
“Yeah, yeah,” answered Taylor, still laughing.
When both Laura and Taylor were far enough from Ruby Rose, Laura just sat there, still with an annoyed expression on her face.
“Where’s your script? I thought we were gonna read lines?”
“Changed my mind,” answered Laura without looking at her.
Taylor just looked at Laura and saw her looking at Ruby Rose. She tried to repress her smile when she realized what was truly going on. She went in front of Laura and levelled her face with her.
“Babe. Ruby Rose is with someone. And I’m with you. And I love you. And you’re too adorable getting all jealous,” this time she was smiling.
“I’m not jealous,” denied Laura, still wearing that bitch face of hers.
“Oh, okay then.” Taylor shrugged. “So, uhm, since you told me you’ve changed your mind about wanting to read lines with me, can I go back there and talk to her again?” She was wearing a toothless grin.
“If you take that ass back in there, I am ignoring you for a week.”
Taylor had now let out her laugh and lifted her hands up in surrender. “I was kidding.” She pulled Laura for a kiss. “I love you, babe. You’re too cute.”
“Am I not supposed to be the hot one?” asked Laura, who was now smiling and had obviously started lightening up.
-o-o-o-
It was Saturday morning, and Taylor was at home reading her script for the next episode of OITNB when her phone rang. She answered the phone thinking it was going to be one of the usual phone calls she got. “Hello?”
“Hi, Taylor?”
Taylor froze at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line. She had not heard that voice in almost five years and of all those five years, she never thought she would hear that voice again.
“Hey, are you there?” said the voice again.
“Taylor racked her brain searching for the right words to say. Maybe she was mistaken, though. Maybe this wasn’t what she thought it was. “Y-yeah. Who is this?”
“It’s Pete. I hope you still remember me?” He gave out a nervous laugh.
That’s when Taylor felt something inside her chest, thumping so violently.
Taylor was right.
He was back in her life.
-o-o-o-
It had been four days since the phone call and Taylor hadn’t heard from him again ever since but she still couldn’t shake off the feeling that it wasn’t going to be the last time in another five years that she would hear from him again. It was irritating her how every ring of her phone made her tense, afraid to find out who was calling, giving out a sigh of relief when the caller would turn out to be another person.
Laura didn’t fail to notice that her girlfriend was acting strangely. And she was worried.
They were on the set of Orange, having a short break when Laura decided to ask Taylor what was going on. “Hey, you’ve been acting strange lately. Is everything all right?"
“What?” Taylor’s mind had drifted so far away that she was surprised at the sound of Laura’s voice. For a moment she thought she was alone.
Laura noticed how Taylor twitched when she spoke. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. What’s going on, babe?”
Taylor wondered whether it was right to tell Laura about him. The moment the call was over, her first instinct was to call Laura, be honest with her and tell her everything there was to tell. But there was something that stopped her, and was still stopping her, and she didn’t know what. Because of that, she decided not to tell her just yet.
“Nothing. Everything’s fine,” she showed her the best smile she can put on.
But Laura couldn’t be fooled. “Come one. Every time your phone rings, it’s like your whole expression changes as if something terrible is about to happen. And you have been restless for the last few days.”
“Wow, I didn’t know you can be pretty observant,” Taylor tried to laugh hoping Laura would join in but she just stared at her, waiting for an answer. “I promise, nothing’s wrong, okay? It’s just that my Dad, uh, called me a few days ago... and he asked me to... you know, do something which I don’t wanna do. I just know he wouldn’t stop until I say yes, so there.” She knew her excuse was so lame even she almost cringed at it.
Laura nodded although she knew that Taylor was lying. It made her uncomfortable because this was the first time that she had caught Taylor lie to her. Something was wrong. She knew it.
-o-o-o-
Taylor had been trying to sleep for hours now but all she had achieved was think of another lie if Laura asked her about this again. She knew that Laura didn’t believe her earlier and it was only a matter of time before she asked her again. She didn’t want this to be a problem between them. She wouldn’t allow someone who had been out of her life for years now to be the one to ruin what she had with her girlfriend.
She closed her eyes as her mind went back to the conversation she had with Pete a few days ago.
“It’s Pete. I hope you still remember me?”
“P-pete?” she asked even though she only knew one Pete.
“Peter Sullivan.”
“O-oh right. How did you know... I mean, why did you call?”
Taylor knew that it was a rude thing to ask but she was just so surprised with this unexpected call that she had forgotten even her manners.
“Sorry. Is this a bad time? I can just call another time if you want.”
“No, no. It’s not a bad time. I’m just... surprised. I mean, I haven’t heard from you in a really long time.”
He let out a sigh. “Right. Uhm, I was just hoping we could talk.”
“Well, that’s what we are kind of doing right now, I think.”
Pete chuckled. Taylor wasn’t joking, though. “I mean in person. I’d really like to see you again if it’s okay.”
Every part of Taylor’s body wanted to shout at him, to say that it wasn’t okay... that there was no chance she would let him see her again. He’s had that chance five years ago but he did not take it. He’s lost that chance forever.
That’s why Taylor felt betrayed by her own mind and her own lips when she realized what she just gave him for an answer. “Yeah, I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Just give me a call whenever. I gotta go. I have this thing...”
“Right,” he sounded a lot happier now. “I will. Thank you. I can’t wait to see you.”
“Yeah. Bye.”
Taylor took a deep breath and almost hit her head with the phone. “What the fuck did I just do?”
Taylor wanted to hit herself again as she remembered that conversation. She was regretting it now. She shouldn’t have said yes. She hadn’t thought about this for a long time that’s why she thought that there wasn’t going to be any problem anymore. But thinking about it now, what if seeing him in person would make her realize what she really was supposed to feel? She hadn’t allowed herself to properly deal with this when it happened. How was she going to react now?
It was all going so wrong. She had to tell Laura. She deserved to know.
-----
A/N:
I'm so happy Uzo Aduba and the whole Orange family won at the SAG Awards! =) Too bad Taylor and Laura were absent, though.
Anyway, shoutout to borntodiethisway for the wonderful comments! ♥
Xoxo ♥